Walt Coburn papers,
1923-1977

AZ 424

This collection is organized into Works, Correspondence, Printed
Materials and Photographs. The bulk of the collection consists of issues of the
various pulp western serials in which Coburn's stories appeared and of his
manuscript typescripts.

Biographical Note

Walter John Coburn was born in White Sulphur Springs, Montana Territory,
on October 23, 1889. His father, a pioneer cattleman, arrived in Montana
Territory in 1863 and founded the Circle C Ranch, one of the largest outfits in
the Northwest at the time. Walt gained his cowboy experience which served as
material for his future fiction and non-fiction stories as a "$40 a month
cowhand" on the Circle C.

From his first accepted story in 1922 until the demise of the pulp
western serials in the 1950s, Coburn gained a reputation as "king of the pulp
westerns." He published more than 1,000 stories and 40 books. At one point he
was producing 600,000 published words a year, and he kept that pace up for two
decades. His stories were particularly noted for their authenticity to the
frontier and range experience.

Coburn first came to Arizona in 1916 and ranched with his brothers in
Globe. He moved to Prescott in 1927, spent 35 years in Tucson and returned to
Prescott for the last 10 years of his life. Coburn committed suicide at the age
of 82 on 25 May 1971. His autobiography,
Walt Coburn: Western Word Wrangler, was published
posthumously in 1974.

Scope and Content Note

This collection is organized into Works, Correspondence, Printed
Materials and Photographs. The bulk of the collection consists of issues of the
various pulp western serials in which Coburn's stories appeared and of his
manuscript typescripts. Most of the magazines contain only tearsheets of his
story, and the cover wrappers. The series is not a complete list of his
stories, and it is not noted which stories are reprints with different titles.
The nine scrapbooks contain articles and stories by Coburn mostly from
True West,
Frontier Times, and
Old West spanning from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s.
These items mostly consist of non-fiction accounts of Coburn's cowboy past in
Montana and Arizona. The manuscripts consist of original typescripts, drafts
and correspondence dealing with
Walt Coburn: Word Wrangler of the West, Pioneer Cattleman of
Montana, and
Stirrup High. Correspondence is chiefly with his friends,
other writers, agents and publishers. The photographs include portraits of
Coburn, of various friends and acquaintances, and of his home in Tucson.

Organization

Restrictions

None.

Copyright

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish
from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record,
the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The
user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the
University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all
claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of
copyright.

Short Stories (typescripts) "The Bullet Marked Saddle";
"The Caballero and the Lady Cow"; "County Kids"; "Forgotten Prayer"; "A Game
Loser"; "The Gun That Had No Notches"; "The Hole Card"; "Night Ride"; "Red
Robin"; and "Feud Valley."
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Date